POSTMENOPAUSAL OSTEOPOROSIS - CLINICAL-FEATURES AT OCCURRENCE OF THE 1ST VERTEBRAL CRUSH FRACTURE - RESULTS OF A NATIONAL MULTICENTER STUDYBY THE ASK-FORCE-ON-OSTEOPOROSIS-RESEARCH-AND-INFORMATION (GRIO)

This national multicenter study by the French Task Force on Osteoporos is Research and Information (Groupe de Recherche et d'Information sur l'Osteoporose GRIO) was carried out to define clinical features in wom en presenting with a first osteoporosis-related vertebral crush fractu re. Seventy-four patients with a less than three-month history of back pain due to a first vertebral fracture documented on the basis of str ingent roentgenographic criteria, were compared to 74 normal age-match ed female controls. Mean age at first vertebral fracture was 67 +/- 7 years. Cases and controls filled out a 78-item questionnaire on morpho logy, reproductive function, environmental factors, and previous fract ures. The circumstances of onset and site of the vertebral fracture we re recorded. Both groups were comparable in terms of age, body weight, hair color and eye color, whereas mean height was smaller by 2 cm in cases (p < 0.02). Among data on reproductive function, the only differ ence was a younger age at last menses among cases (47.7 +/- 5.7 versus 49.8 +/- 4.8 years) ; number of pregnancies and duration of breast-fe eding were comparable in cases and controls. Environmental factors (sm oking, alcohol use, physical activity, dietary calcium) were similar i n the two groups. Cases were more likely than controls to report a his tory of appendicular fractures and/or a positive family history for ve rtebral osteoporosis. This study in French women suggests that the fir st osteoporotic vertebral fracture occurs approximately 20 years after cessation of menses and that risk factors include earlier age at last menses, a history of fracture, and a family history of vertebral oste oporosis.